Republican LD-31 Assembly candidate Kopko slams HCDO, Prieto responds

Matthew Kopko, a Republican candidate for NJ Assembly in the 31st district, criticized the Hudson County Democratic Organization, discussed the Exxon Mobile settlement, police collar cameras and North Jersey casinos in an interview with Hudson County View.  

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“There were three party bosses who got up there talking about how powerful they are and I didn’t hear a single word about what they would do for the people of New Jersey,” said Kopko.

Kopko also addressed his concern with the $225 million ExxonMobil Settlement.

“There is total lack of transparency and accountability on the details of the settlement,” Kopko stated. “The administration has not been able to tell the people why this amount is adequate, why they expanded the amount of settlement sites.”

According to Kopko, collar cams would help improve community policing.

As for casinos, the Republican candidate does not support gaming by the Jersey City waterfront.

“I don’t think the plan by Fireman by Liberty State Park is going to come to fruition terribly easily because it is a beautiful natural area and it’s going to be hard to sell people on building a massive casino right next to a beautiful public park,” Kopko explained.

Fireman Capital Partners proposed a 4.6 billion project that would include a casino and a 95-story hotel next to the Liberty National Golf Course.

And on District 31 Democratic Assembly nominee Angela McKnight’s position on tax abatement for seniors, “she has been counseled to trumpet certain policies that are very transparently trying to buy the senior and veteran vote.”

“It’s going to be apparent that there is a movement of people who care and want to get stuff done and there is a movement of people who are looking after themselves and I’m most certainly in the first part,” stated Kopko.

Kopko and Herminio Mendoza will be running against McKnight and Nick Chiaravalloti for the general election on November 3.

Vincent Prieto, the state Assembly Speaker (D-32) and the HCDO Chairman, responded to Kopko’s remarks, stating that it made little sense to discuss policy the night of the election.

“On election night it’s all about politics, we weren’t going into the weeds, into policy obviously because it wasn’t that type of a day.  It’s really about politics that day and that the administration prevailed in the primary and that’s the main focus.”

Prieto also commented that for the people of New Jersey, he is protecting the middle class.

“The middle class has been crushed over the last five years by the administration, and I want to do the right thing for them,” declared Prieto.

He also noted that he is focusing on replenishing the transportation trust fund, revisiting the pension plan and has also gotten rid of the tax sharing in the Meadowlands district which gave property tax reliefs to seven municipalities of over seven million dollars.